Introducing Polar Logistics, Arctic Kingdom's Latest Venture

June 3rd, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Projects

A scene from a 2008 expedition to Navy Board, shot by Arctic Kingdom founder and CEO Graham Dickson

Say you want to study the effects of climate change on Greenland’s cod population. Or maybe you’re shooting a film, and need an arctic landscape, complete with ice floes, rocky outcrops, and tundra. How do you find a location? Once you know where you want to go, how do you get all of your equipment up there, with enough food and supplies for your entire crew? What if your ideal location is remote, or involves crossing international borders while on the ice? And what will you do if something goes wrong?

For all that and more, Arctic Kingdom has developed Polar Logistics, a network of polar operations specialists geared toward moving people, equipment, and supplies throughout and between the world’s polar regions. Visit the site for more information on how we can help make your next polar project a reality.

Swimming With Whales: WDCS Blue Whale Simulation

June 3rd, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Arctic Animals, Conservation, Diving

Here's looking at you: the WDCS's Blue Whale Simulation

What is it like to swim alongside a whale? Well, there’s really only one way to find out. But the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society’s got an interesting alternative: a simulation of what it’d be like to swim alongside the world’s largest animal: the blue whale.

You won’t find blue whales in the Arctic, but you will find their close cousin, the bowhead whale. Weighing in at 136 tonnes, the bowhead is second only to the blue whale in sheer body mass, though other whales do grow to be longer. The bowhead needs that fat — after all, it spends it’s whole life in the frigid arctic waters!

If the WDCS flash animation just isn’t enough, or if it’s whetted your appetite for the real thing, there are several options for swimming with whales on our trips page, including our upcoming expedition to Lancaster Sound, where bowheads are often spotted swimming alongside migrating narwhal and beluga.

Narwhal Week: BBC NEWS 'Arctic Unicorns' Video Captures the Elusive Narwhal

June 2nd, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Arctic Animals, Diving, Films

via BBC NEWS, ‘Arctic unicorns’ in icy display.

This week, I’m highlighting narwhals in honor of Arctic Kingdom’s upcoming expedition to Lancaster Sound. The expedition’s primary goal is to view and swim with narwhal and beluga as they begin their summer migration.

So I was thrilled when I stumbled upon that video up there. This is what the Lancaster Sound trip is all about! Read the rest of this entry »

Mysterious Ice Circles Explained

June 2nd, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Current Events

Is it Aliens or Is it Methane? Only Your Geologist Knows For Sure.

Oh well. As Mary Gray noted in the comments section below, scientists have determined the cause of Siberia’s mysterious ice circles. Is it aliens? Alas, no. It’s methane gas. Yahoo news reports,

Methane emissions can create a rising mass of warm water that begins swirling in a circular pattern because of the Coriolis force, or the phenomenon caused by the Earth’s rotation that also helps create cyclones. Read the rest of this entry »

Narwhal Week: Smithsonian Magazine's "In Search of the Mysterious Narwhal"

June 1st, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Arctic Animals, IN THE NEWS

Narwhals frolic for Ushuaia cameramen on an Arctic Kingdom-led expedition in 2004

This week, in honor of Arctic Kingdom’s upcoming expeditions to Lancaster Sound, I’m going to be looking at one of the sound’s most elusive creatures: the narwhal. Every day, I’ll post photos of narwhals from Arctic Kingdom’s galleries and photo archives, along with whatever narwhal news and information I can get my hands on.

To kick things off, I spent the morning enjoying “In Search of the Mysterious Narwhal” from Smithsonian Magazine’s May issue, which provides a glimpse into the lives of scientists studying and tracking narwhal in Niaqornat, Greenland. Read the rest of this entry »

Move Over, Iceland: Vikings Visited the Canadian Arctic, Too

May 30th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Arctic History, IN THE NEWS

New research suggests that Vikings may have visited the Canadian Arctic. The Ottowa Citizen reports,

One of Canada’s top Arctic archeologists says the remnants of a stone-and-sod wall unearthed on southern Baffin Island may be traces of a shelter built more than 700 years ago by Norse seafarers, a stunning find that would be just the second location in the New World with evidence of a Viking-built structure. Read the rest of this entry »

More Things on Heaven and Earth Dept.: Siberia’s Mysterious Ice Circles

May 28th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Current Events, IN THE NEWS

An ice circle on the Southern Edge of Lake Baikal, as photographed by the International Space Station.

Science Fiction blog io9 posted a real-science story today about two mysterious, two-and-a-half-mile-wide ice circles that have appeared, with no readily apparent cause, in Siberia’s Lake Baikal. Read the rest of this entry »

Featured Video: Swimming with Whales & Camping on Sea Ice in the Arctic

May 27th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Diving, Films, Sports

Harsh though it seems, the High Arctic teems with life. One of the things I love about this video is how much of that life is in evidence, from large mammals, including narwhal and beluga, to the clouds of plankton that swirl around the camera and divers. And check out the crazy undersea plant life that shows up at around 1:42!

This video also showcases the diving, photographic opportunities, and natural beauty that make Lancaster Sound one of our most popular destinations. Visit the trip page to find out how you can join the fun!

Graham Dickson in Face to Face: Polar Portraits

May 25th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK PRODUCTS & SERVICES, Books

Graham Dickson, founder and chief expedition officer, is among the explorers featured in "Face to Face: Polar Portraits."

I recently got my hands on a copy of Huw Lewis-Jones’ Face to Face: Polar Portraits, a stunning collection of photographs from polar expeditions past and present. (Jealous? Get your copy here while supplies last!)

Curled up on a lawn chair in my sun-drenched San Francisco garden, far south of Arctic Kingdom’s Toronto headquarters (never mind the Arctic Circle), I was absolutely transported as I paged through the book, absorbed by its parade of chapped cheeks, fur-lined parkas, ice-encrusted mustaches and resolute gazes. Read the rest of this entry »

"It's Like Being in A Dream": NPR Explores the Arctic Soundscape

May 24th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Arctic Animals, Current Events, IN THE NEWS, SCIENCE

Listening to the radio late last night, I caught a snippet of the NPR program To the Best of Our Knowledge that explored what it means to have “a sense of place.”

The show featured several people who are, in one way or another, involved with finding or documenting the essence of a particular locale. My favorite, of course, was the brief segment recorded by Martyn Stewart, one of audio engineers who took part on the Arctic Soundscape Project, a record of the sounds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge captured in 2006.

One thing Stewart said about his time on the tundra really struck me: Read the rest of this entry »